


More Like a Band-Aid

by A_Strange_Vessel



Category: Nancy Drew (Video Games)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-04-22 14:34:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14310807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Strange_Vessel/pseuds/A_Strange_Vessel
Summary: Magnus' and Elisabet's happy ending at the end of SEA didn't last. *Insert generic old-school FanFiction.net summary about Magnus leaving Skipbrot and unexpectedly finding new love and all that.*





	1. Chapter 1

I should've seen it coming.

After Nancy Drew rescued me and found Captain Lawrence's treasure, the Heerlijkheid became a museum, Soren did a bunch of community service, Dagny disappeared, Gunnar took over the local bar, and Elísabet and I got our "happily ever after" while we sailed around the world with my dog.

But in the past three years, we've had more downs than ups. It wasn't for lack of trying, but things just didn't work anymore. Our happy ending was more like a Band-Aid.

After the ship became a museum, Elísabet and I downsized when we got a new one to go sailing in. For that reason, Tumi and I didn't have much to take with us when we left for America.

On the plane, I ended up talking to the man next to me. He was an Irishman called Alex Morgan; he was in his late twenties, about a decade younger than me. Alex was quiet but sweet. I couldn't help but like him.

Alex didn't have anywhere to go once the plane got to America, as he claimed to be drifting from place to place and low on money after being cut out of his moderately wealthy family; I offered to let him stay until he could get back on his feet. He agreed.

So Tumi and I had a new roommate.


	2. Chapter 2

During the long flight from Iceland to Pennsylvania, Alex and I fell asleep. Just before landing, I woke up, noticing my left hand had drifted to Alex's knee. I moved my hand just before he woke up as well.

Lifting his head from my shoulder, he said, "Sorry for using you as a pillow."

"It's alright," I replied, not bringing up my own sleeping self.

Alex and I were picked up by a woman called Sally MacDonald, the photographer whose house I'd just bought. She was actually a family friend of Nancy's, and Nancy'd actually recommend Sally and the Moon Lake area after a case she'd solved there. The last of Sally's four dogs had just passed, and she sold me the house so she could move in with her recently ill, elderly aunt in Philadelphia. The house itself was actually a cabin on a small section of land that was part of Moon Lake State Park. The cabin and the cemetery in the woods on the property were built by a mobster nearly a century ago.

On the way to Moon Lake, Sally took us to a storage unit facility where she'd been saving the few boxes of belongings I'd shipped over from Iceland before my arrival. She helped me and Alex bring them into the cabin upon our arrival, while Tumi ran around and sniffed everything he could before marking his territory.

"You'd better keep an eye on your dog," Sally warned on her way out. "The local park ranger's really strict about the rules around here, including the leash laws."

With that, she handed me the keys to the house and headed back to Philadelphia. I let Tumi back into the house, and he flopped on the floor, whining at one of the boxes, hoping his bed and toys were inside.

As Alex and I started unpacking, I told him he could have the bed in the one bedroom upstairs while he stayed with me, and I'd sleep on the couch downstairs.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's fine. I guess I'm used to tight sleeping quarters from my sailing days."


	3. Chapter 3

It was the end of the first two weeks Alex and I spent at Moon Lake. I knew things wouldn't last, him staying with me. He'd already started job searches on his laptop.

But they were a couple weeks I'd enjoyed. Alex and I used the outboard motorboat that came with the house to go to the general store and to the ranger station-post office-museum. And we'd explored the woods leading to the cemetery, as well as other areas of the state park.

At night, I found myself dreaming of Alex, especially his smile, and the way the corners of his blue eyes crinkled when he laughed.

I wanted to find a way to get him to stay.

Sally had mentioned that there was an old speakeasy on the property; the secret employee entrance was behind a wall in the cellar, and the "public" entrance was a in a series of tunnels that led to a hidden staircase in one of the graves in the cemetery.

When Alex and I were cleaning the cellar, we found the one entrance. We spent a day cleaning the speakeasy, too, and it gave me an idea.

As the second week ended, Alex and I went out to the cemetery to clean it up; Sally admitted she never liked going out there, so it'd become overgrown with weeds. While we were working, I asked Alex if he'd found any new jobs. He hadn't.

So I asked him if he wanted to look into reopening the old speakeasy with me, only as a legitimate bar. I told him we'd have to look into how to get a business license and a liquor license. He thought it was a great idea, and we could try to find the grave that led to the tunnels to use that as the public entrance again.

We found a grave near the cemetery gate with someone called Waldo Mathias, who we'd read was the cop who'd always been on the tail of Mickey Malone, the gangster who'd built the place. Sure enough, when I took out my set of house keys, the key Sally said would open the grave worked.

But since it was getting late, we didn't have time to go down into the tunnels. We still weren't overly familiar with the trail back to the cabin, so we started back so we could get there before dark.

During the walk back, I couldn't help but grin that Alex would be staying, at least for a bit longer. So I wasn't paying attention when I got my foot caught on a tree root that had started to grow across the path. My ankle twisted, and I dragged Alex down with me as I fell.

And then I landed on top of him.

I wiggled my foot out of the painful position it was in and started to lift myself off of Alex. I hesitated a moment, then found myself brushing a bit of hair out of his face.

Alex pushed himself up on one elbow, reaching with his other arm to pull me closer to him. Next thing I knew, his lips were on mine, and my heart stopped a moment.

When Alex started to apologize, I found myself kissing him back.

It definitely wasn't my first kiss, but then I started to really realize I hadn't liked kissing Elísabet in quite some time before the breakup. And it took meeting Alex, and finally getting a kiss from him, for me to figure out why.

Sure, I liked women, but I realized I liked men, too... possibly just a touch more.

But my twisted ankle ruined the moment for me as soon as it started. I should've been enjoying my first kiss with Alex, but I was in pain.

Alex held me up as I limped back to the cabin. We went straight from the trailhead to the side door, through the tiny kitchen-dining area to the stairs. He helped me up to the bedroom and helped me into bed.

When Alex helped me get my shoes off, we noticed that my ankle was swollen, so he propped my foot up on a couple pillows and insisted I stay up in that room instead of downstairs on the couch that night. He ran downstairs to get an ice pack and some painkillers for me, then said he'd take me to the doctor's in the morning.

Then Tumi came bounding up the stairs. He tried to "help" by jumping onto the bed to enthusiastically lick my face.

"Down, boy," Alex said as he got the dog off of me. "Go downstairs and wait."

Tumi went back downstairs, and Alex propped my foot back up. Then he put the ice pack on my ankle and got me a glass of water to go with the medicine.

Alex told me, "Hey, call down for me when the ice stops working, and I'll get it for you."

Before he went downstairs to stay on the couch, Alex kissed me on the forehead. Even with my pain, I couldn't help but smile as I told him goodnight.

Because I'd just found my first boyfriend.


	4. Chapter 4

The morning after I hurt my ankle, Alex and I managed to get a ride to the nearest hospital. I was lucky in that my ankle hadn't been as seriously hurt as it felt.

But I still had to take it easy for a few days. That meant for the rest of that week, I couldn't go back through the woods to the graveyard to explore the public tunnels to the speakeasy. In the meantime, I stayed upstairs in bed and used my own computer to start looking into the legal aspects of starting up the speakeasy again.

One night late that week, near when my ankle was healed enough, I'd apparently fallen asleep while still doing research and not realized it. At least, not until I felt my laptop lift off of my legs. I half-woke to see Alex had closed it and was setting it on top of the dresser.

"You need to rest if you want to get better," Alex said.

I told him, "It's my ankle that's been bothering me, not the flu."

"Yeah, but still," he retorted. "Anyway, how are you feeling?"

"Tired, apparently."

Alex smiled and sat down on the bed next to me. I took his hand in mine and asked, "Would you stay with me tonight? I... I don't think I'm ready for sex yet, but... would you still stay?"

Alex settled onto the bed next to me and gently took me in his arms. I stroked his cheek before kissing him deeply.

"Magnus, I love you," Alex breathed.

"I love you too," I told him.

Then it struck me: We'd been together nearly a week, but that was the first time we'd actually admitted how we felt out loud. After a few more kisses, we both settled down to sleep, my arms around Alex and my hand on his heart.


	5. Chapter 5

After my ankle healed enough for me to walk on my own without much pain, Alex and I boated over to the ranger station to talk to Jeff Akers about setting up the speakeasy. Having actual alcohol on state park property wouldn't work out, but we still wanted to ask about setting the place up as a small restaurant and historical site.

We almost didn't convince Jeff that this would work out, with his grandfather being the right-hand-man of the gangster who originally owned the cabin and speakeasy. But then I remembered something Sally had told me about him: He wanted to attract more visitors to the park. I finally got him onboard by telling him that reopening the speakeasy would be a chance to bring in the visitors he wanted after the decline of the boom he'd gotten after Nancy found the stolen gold hidden in the cabin's well.

He caved and said he'd look into getting us all the legal permits to open the speakeasy.

On the way home, Alex and I started talking about what sort of job listings we'd need to post if and when Jeff came through with us.

Upon our arrival back at the cabin, I noticed a very familiar female form standing on the porch.


End file.
